literary journal

Tag: #shortstory

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, androgenes and humanes … gather in, gather in … distinguished guests, presslords, Your Majesty. Welcome one and all to London, and to OceanWorld. It is my great honour to be standing before you all this evening for the grand launch of our latest exhibition. I cannot express to you how excited I … how excited we all are about … Continue reading Come See The Whale – David Hartley

Geoff was sitting at the kitchen table when the old man walked in. He put down his toast. ‘You okay?’ Geoff asked. The man looked at him, nodded, his hair a halo of grey around his head. Slowly, he pulled out a chair and sat down, lifting one knee and linking his hands around it. On his feet, he wore slippers. Brown mules with a … Continue reading Just Like You And Me – Jacqueline Grima

‘Order in the court.’ called the right honourable Judge Dick McManus who was presiding over the trial. There had been uproar when the last witness left the stand and this trial was in danger of spiralling out of control. Judge McManus banged his gavel down three times to reiterate the call and gradually the noise was dulled to murmurs and finally, silence. ‘Counsellor Wang you … Continue reading Thank You Roger – Rick White

Once upon a time there was a girl called Red. She lived in a cottage in the forest, on a bend where the water slowed lazily against the riverbank. The villagers adored her and her grandmother doted on her. The birds in the trees above her home circled in anticipation of her waking each morning, ‘Red, Red, the forest awaits’ they’d call in harmony. Where … Continue reading The Truth About Red – Hannah Persaud

The Da Vinci Café, a San Francisco landmark, stood at the corner of Broadway and Stockton Streets for thirty-nine years. Its door-sized front windows overlooked both Chinatown and North Beach. Opened originally to supply fake documentation (passports, drivers licenses, credit cards, etc.) for the local mafia, the café nearly failed as a legit business during its first year under non-professional management and competition from nearby, … Continue reading The Last Supper – William Masters

“Were they really mad, or was it just murky?” “Mercury, Jenny,” Mum said, lifting her shoulders and dipping her voluminous blond crown towards me for emphasis. “It’s very dangerous stuff. And there’s a planet called Mercury, too.” “OK… but were they really mad or not?” Mum stepped closer to a sign hung on the wall, scanning columns of text above a drawing of the Mad … Continue reading Horns in the Hatworks – Matty Bannond

This too has been one of the more romantic places in town. Handily placed near the car park, the architect took advantage of the high street corner location to incorporate a boastful curve into its frontage. Built as an ice rink in the ‘30s, it morphed seamlessly into Alvin’s Dancehall on the day Chubby Checker released The Twist, and over the years the people flocked … Continue reading Alvin’s Dancehall – looking back – James Woolf